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REPRESENTING 160,000 TELEVISION
AND FILM ACTORS WILL GO ON
STRIKE STARTING AT MIDNIGHT,
AFTER FOUR WEEKS OF FAILED
NEGOTIATIONS.
JEFFREY BROWN FINDS OUT WHAT'S
BEHIND THE DECISION AND HOW
HOLLYWOOD WILL BE AFFECTED.
IT'S PART OF OUR ARTS AND
CULTURE SERIES, CANVAS.
>> YOU SHARE THE WEALTH BECAUSE
YOU CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT US.
THANK YOU.
JEFFREY: THE ANNOUNCEMENT CAME
THIS AFTERNOON.
THEY WILL OFFICIALLY STRIKE AT
MIDNIGHT TONIGHT ALREADY, ACTORS
ARE LEAVING SETS AND EVEN
PREMIERES.
AND MANY MORE WILL BE ON PICKET
LINES STARTING TOMORROW.
>> THE ENTIRE BUSINESS MODEL HAS
BEEN CHANGED BY STREAMING,
DIGITAL, AI.
THIS IS A MOMENT OF HISTORY, A
MOMENT OF TRUTH.
IF WE DON'T STAND TALL RIGHT NOW
, WE ARE ALL GOING TO BE IN
TROUBLE.
JEFFREY: AMONG THE UNRESOLVED
ISSUES, DEMANDS FOR HIGHER
WAGES.
THE INCREASE OF RESIDUALS AS
STREAMING SERVICES COMMAND MORE
OF THE MARKET AND NEW
PROTECTIONS FROM THE USE OF
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
FOR ITS PART, THE ALLIANCE OF
MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION
PRODUCERS REPRESENTING
TRADITIONAL STUDIOS SUCH AS
UNIVERSAL, PARAMOUNT, AND
DISNEY, ALONG WITH NEWER TECH
GIANTS LIKE APPLE, NETFLIX, AND
AMAZON ABOUT BLAMED THE UNION
FOR WALKING AWAY FROM MAJOR
CONCESSIONS, SAYING IN A
STATEMENT THE UNION HAS
REGRETTABLY CHOSEN A PATH THAT
WILL LEAD TO FINANCIAL HARDSHIP
FOR COUNTLESS THOUSANDS OF
PEOPLE WHO DEPEND ON THE
INDUSTRY.
IN AN INTERVIEW THIS MORNING,
BOB IGER SAID THIS.
>> THERE'S A LEVEL OF
EXPECTATION THAT THEY HAVE THAT
IS JUST NOT REALISTIC.
THEY ARE ADDING TO THE SET OF
CHALLENGES THAT THIS BUSINESS IS
ALREADY FACING THAT IS QUITE
FRANKLY VERY DISRUPTIVE.
JEFFREY: THE MOVE ALL BUT GRINDS
HOLLYWOOD TO A HALT AS ACTORS
JOIN THE WRITING GUILD WHOSE
MEMBERS HAVE BEEN ON STRIKE
SINCE MAY OVER SIMILAR ISSUES.
THIS IS THE FIRST TIME BOTH
UNIONS HAVE BEEN ON STRIKE SINCE
1960 WHEN ACTOR AND FUTURE
PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN HEADED
UP THE ACTORS GUILD.
A PERSON WHO COVERS THE INDUSTRY
FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES --
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.
-- ANOUSHA SAKOUI WHO COVERS THE
INDUSTRY FOR THE LOS ANGELES
TIMES.
I MENTIONED TO SOME OF THE
ISSUES AND WE WILL COME BACK TO
THAT BUT I AM STRUCK I HELD BOTH
SIDES SEEM TO BE FRAMING THIS IN
EXISTENTIAL TERMS.
ARE YOU HEARING IT THAT WAY?
ANOUSHA: FOR SURE.
LIKE YOU SAID IN THE PACKAGE,
THIS IS SIMILAR WITH THE DEBATE
WITH THE WRITERS, THAT THE
STUDIOS ARE SORT OF SAYING THAT,
YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE ISSUES OF
TERMS OF RESTRUCTURING.
WE WERE SEEING THE STUDIOS
LAYING OFF THOUSANDS OF
EMPLOYEES AND NOW, THERE HAS
BEEN THIS SHIFT IN THE STREAMING
MODEL WHERE THERE'S BEEN A
PULLBACK IN PRODUCTION AND MANY
STUDIOS ARE SEEKING COST SAVINGS
AND TRYING TO CUT BACK.
SO OBVIOUSLY, THAT DOES NOT
ALIGN WITH UNIONS WHO WANT TO
GET PAID MORE.
JEFFREY: AND WHAT ARE THE MAJOR
STICKING POINTS AT THIS POINT
THAT YOU SEE THAT LED TO THE
BREAKDOWN?
ANOUSHA: IT SEEMS THAT THERE WAS
A STICKING POINT AROUND
STREAMING RESIDUALS WHICH ARE
THE ROYALTIES PAID WHEN A TV OR
FILM IS REPLAYED.
IN THE ACTORS WANTED A SORT OF
SHARE OF REVENUE LINKED TO THE
MOST SUCCESSFUL SHOWS AND THAT
SEEMED TO BE A BIG NO FOR THE
STUDIOS.
THEY ALSO WANTED GREATER
PROTECTIONS AROUND ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE THAN THE STUDIOS
SEEM TO BE OFFERING THEM AND
THEY ALSO WANTED BIG INCREASES
IN WAGES TO COUNTER THE IMPACT
OF INFLATION AND OBVIOUSLY, THE
TWO SIDES WERE NOT ABLE TO COME
TO AGREEMENT ON THOSE NUMBERS.
JEFFREY: WHAT ABOUT THE RESPONSE
FROM THE INDUSTRY? THEY PUT OUT
A LIST OF 14 PROPOSALS THAT THEY
SAID THEY HAD PUT ON THE TABLE
IN RESPONSE TO THE UNION.
YOU SAW BOB IGER'S COMMENTS
TODAY.
WHAT ARE YOU HEARING FROM THE
INDUSTRY?
ANOUSHA: YOU KNOW, I THINK WHEN
YOU LOOK AT IT, YOU HAVE TO LOOK
AT THE FINER DETAILS.
IT'S NOT THAT EASY A THING TO
SORT OF COMPARE ONE VERSION OF A
PROPOSAL AND WHAT THE ACTORS ARE
SAYING.
YOU KNOW, YOU SORT OF GET TWO
VERSIONS OF THE SAME STORY.
I THINK A LOT OF THE TIME, IT
IS, YOU KNOW, LOOKING INTO THE
FINER DETAILS OF THE OFFERORS,
AND YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THERE TO
SAY EXCEPT THAT THERE'S GOING TO
BE A STRIKE THIS WEEKEND?
PEOPLE ARE VERY CONCERNED ACROSS
THE INDUSTRY ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS
FOR LIVELIHOODS, NOT JUST OF
ACTORS AND WRITERS WHO ARE ON
STRIKE BUT ALL THE OTHER WORKERS
WHO THE CRAFTSPEOPLE,
HAIRDRESSERS, MAKEUP ARTISTS,
COSTUMERS, THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE
THAT WORK ON FILM AND TV THAT
WILL HAVE THEIR WORK STOPPED AND
THEIR PAY STOPPED.
AND ALSO THE BUSINESSES THAT ARE
DEPENDENT ON FILM AND TV ACROSS,
YOU KNOW, MANY BIG FILMING HUBS
ACROSS THE U.S.
IT'S NOT JUST SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA AND LOS ANGELES BUT
NEW YORK, NEW MEXICO ABOUT,
GEORGIA HAVE -- MEXICO, GEORGIA
HAVE HUGE FILM INDUSTRIES.
JEFFREY: TELL US A LITTLE BIT
MORE ABOUT THAT.
THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THIS THAT
GOES BEYOND THE UNION WORKERS,
GOES BEYOND THE STUDIOS, GOES
BEYOND THE HOLLYWOOD INDUSTRY TO
L.A. AND BEYOND, AS YOU WERE
SAYING.
HOW BIG AN IMPACT WILL IT HAVE?
ANOUSHA: THE ONE THING THAT THE
SAG AFTRA STRIKE WILL DO IS THAT
IT WILL STRETCH THE REACH OF
THESE